St. John, writing at the end of the last Book of The New Testament, tells us much of what we need to know about the seven kinds of souls who will not be allowed in Heaven. We may wonder if they are listed in ascending order, and explore whether each of those described represents the personification of one of the Seven Deadly Sins:
“Dogs” were programmed to do various jobs for people, from herding sheep to providing company for the lonely. Their instincts tell us much about what The Programmer wants, and doesn’t want, us to be and do. The dog’s loyalty is to itself. It will do whatever the owner can teach it, even jumping through flaming hoops, in order to get food and praise. Similarly, dog-like souls will do whatever their earthly masters order to provide themselves access to programmed earthly entities like money and property. Just as the dog recognizes no higher power than whomever is most likely to feed it, the dog-like human soul blinds itself to any power above the earthly person or organization that provides it with sustenance.
“Fortune tellers” deceive and manipulate their more vulnerable neighbors by pretending to have powers greater than other human programs, claiming: “I have been given special access and know the future.” Some fortune tellers claim that they simply “know” the future, but most cannot resist claiming to be so close to The Programmer and what He has programmed that they have been granted special access. “For money, I will share my downloads with you.” Today, most fortune tellers work for government agencies, from whose august halls they announce the forthcoming beneficent results of plans that are sure to fail to do anything but raise taxes, increase enslavement, or kill people. Those who believe such prognosticators are mostly to be found among the people described in the preceding paragraph.
“Fornicators”, in the original Latin, are “those who frequent prostitutes”, which would include the above group who have prostituted themselves to vanity and lies. Once, an old, wise priest with over a hundred thousand Confessions under his belt told me that lustful desires “never go away”. We can, of course, resist lustful desires for people, as well as for programmed entities, and we should. This sin is strongest among the weak, the lonely, and the insecure, so it afflicts all of us. When Ammon wanted improper relations with his half-sister, Tamar, he raped her, and then despised her. Two years later, her brother, Absalom, killed him for what he’d done to Tamar. We may learn from this that the sin has deadly repercussions.
“Murderers” is taken from the French for “kill”, usually meaning to kill people. In Catholic Fundamentalism, murderers erase other human programs. Murderers don’t just kill people. They will also try to kill truth, the desire to do good, and the desire to worship the God Who encourages both truth and goodness. Murder is a manifestation of hate, which makes it an attack on love, which is the essence of The Programmer of He Who programmed all creation into being. Murderers will also try to kill ideas that may make things better for people. Today, murderers support abortion, euthanasia, prohibiting DDT, along with religions and practices that encourage hatred and death.
“Idolaters” are those who worship spirits, thoughts, actions, and things that distract and separate we who are created from He Who created us. If the distraction and separation are made big enough, we are lost. Idols are all around us. From antiques to zoology, the world is full of things that were programmed to be interesting enough to take our time and energy away from The Programmer Who made all things to separate those who’d rather obsess about people and things than concern themselves with Him.
“Those of false speech” are those who lie. Every mind was programmed with the ability to know truth, and every mind demonstrates that by reading, writing, eating, drinking, watching TV and talking to others. Those who lie about the workings of the programs among which we all live are introducing viruses into the system with every lie they tell. The biggest lies result in needless death and poverty, and we are familiar with them. From “It’s not really a baby.” to “We have to worry about our carbon footprint.”, clouds of vicious, destructive viruses (To Catholic Fundamentalists, lies are living things that grow and spread.) are introduced and reinforced in human operating systems every second, minute, hour, and day. “Why are those poor, lost souls numbering themselves among the damned?”, we ask. The answer, “Because they want to.” is not enough. We have to do what we can to help, which includes praying for the habitual liars. “God, please save Al Gore’s soul.” is something we should say every time he, or another similarly pitiful boob, opens his or her lying mouth. Most of us just roll our eyes skyward, which, in itself, may be precisely that prayer in silent form.
“Those of false lives” is an all-inclusive catch-all phrase for souls who have embraced all six of the preceding personifications of sinfulness.
